You Know You Love It
by chalantness
Summary: Prompt #139: protection. includes Lian: If she wasn't half-annoyed right now, she'd stop to notice that Roy being overprotective of her is totally hot.


**Title: **_You Know You Love It  
><em>**Rating:** T  
><strong>Word Count:<strong> 2,100+  
><strong>Characters:<strong> Roy/Jade, Lian  
><strong>Summary:<strong> If she wasn't half-annoyed right now, she'd stop to notice that Roy being overprotective of her is totally hot.  
><strong>Prompt:<strong> #139: protection  
><strong>Other Inspirations:<strong> none

**Note:** I suck at keeping them in character. I don't know _how_ I managed it with my first fic of them. And I also didn't know how to end this, but I'm posting it anyway because I kind of loved the _idea_ of this and I wanted to share it with you guys. So, sorry that it's not my best work!

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><p><strong>You Know You Love It<strong>

* * *

><p>If she's being perfectly honest here, she doesn't know <em>what<em> they are.

She's not really fond of labels to begin with, but they're important sometimes, like if you need to know what kind of relationship you're in and aren't able to give a clear enough answer when asked, then you obviously have to sit down and talk about it. Except neither she nor Roy likes _talking_ about this thing between them. They just go along with it.

(Basically, she lives in his apartment and he tells people he's seeing someone and they go out if they happen to have free time and want something other than sex, which they have a lot of, too.)

But she's sitting on the edge of the bathtub with a plastic device in her hand and the world _pregnant_ on the little screen, and she thinks maybe having a label right now would be nice so she can anticipate what's going to happen. She doesn't even remember _when_ they stopped using protection, either, just that they did and it was a mutual decision that they felt ready for. That means something, right?

She sighs and walks over to the sink, runs the test under the water for a few seconds before ripping off some toilet paper and rolling it up.

When Roy gets home, she's sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of (now cold) coffee in hand and all of the other lights in the apartment turned off except for the one above her head. Usually if either of them gets home late like this, the other goes to bed already, so she understands why he looks surprised to see her there.

"Hey," he says, dropping his stuff into an empty chair. She puts her mug down and sits up straighter when he walks over to her, closes her eyes when he kisses her. "What are you still doing up?"

She shrugs one shoulder, "Waiting for you."

"Why?" He frowns, eyebrows pulling together. "What happened?"

She presses her lips together. It's exactly like him to assume something's wrong. This time it's true (well, not that this is _wrong_—yet—but it's definitely big), but still.

So she picks the crumpled toilet paper from the table and drops it into his hand and watches him unroll it. She knows exactly when he sees what's inside and what it says, too, because his eyes get all wide and his breathing kind of stops and, _god_, she feels like she's going to be sick.

"When?" is all he blurts out after a few seconds of pure silence, and she's not stupid enough to not know what he's really asking.

"I just found out tonight, too," she says with narrowed eyes. He nods and doesn't say anything else. Now she's sort of pissed. "I get why… actually, I _don't_ get why you'd think I'd…" She's rambling like an idiot, but she's stupidly emotional right now. "I wouldn't keep something this big from you. I wouldn't keep anything from you!" It's kind of alarming how true those words are.

"No, I know that. I'm just making sure." She fully glares now, pulls herself away when he reaches for her. "Jade," he exhales. "I'm sorry for assuming. But you can't _blame_ me. This is huge."

"Like it's not for me?" She's not a crier, but she thinks she might start soon. "You think I haven't gone through the reasons, too? That I haven't considered how ridiculous things are right now and that—"

"What?" He's looking at her like she's crazy. Maybe she is; she kind of feels like it right now. "I wasn't talking about that."

Okay, now she's confused.

"_God_, if you're this freaked out about… I think _I'm_ going to be pissed pretty soon." She laughs a little, even if it's entirely inappropriate considering _everything_. He kneels down, wedges himself between her knees. "I'm not leaving you or the baby. I'm not _letting_ you leave me, either. I thought that would be obvious."

"Then we've obviously been on two different pages," she mumbles, but honestly? Part of her probably knew this all along.

"Are we at least on the same page about this?"

She sets her hand on the back of his neck and slants her lips over his instead of saying anything, but they both know what her answer is, so.

... ...

If she wasn't half-annoyed right now (and _alright_, half-worried, too), she'd stop to notice that Roy being overprotective of her is totally hot.

His voice is low and rough and more commanding than she's ever heard it before, and he's standing slightly between her and where Batman and the others are in front of them. She's definitely capable of handling herself and fighting her own fights, but she may just have to suck up her pride and let him do it for her if it means he's going to keep getting all riled up like this.

And really, this entire confrontation is pointless.

It's definitely unavoidable, but pointless.

It took little convincing of Ollie and Dinah beforehand to get them used to the idea that Roy was going to be the father and that Cheshire was the mother of that child, so now they're on their side. And she's looking into her sister's eyes and seeing _something_ there that's not entirely hostile, and the rest of those kids don't look as convinced as their mentors that she's a mistress of Satan or something.

(She wasn't lying when she told Roy that she'd always liked his sidekick friends.)

Batman looks like he's entirely against this—_them_—but then Catwoman places a hand on his cheek and whispers things into his ear, and Jade knows of the woman's former criminal status and isn't doubting that she's arguing that in relation to their situation right now.

In the end, Batman tells them that it's going to be process and now they're going to have a bigger target on their backs, but there isn't a "_no"_ anywhere in his words, so the rest is just details.

... ...

Roy is silent the entire drive home from the doctor's, and she wouldn't really think anything of it if he hadn't slammed his door shut when he got in and sped the entire way back. It's obvious that he's not just being quiet. He's kind of furious about something.

The fact they just found out they're having a girl makes her a little nervous.

He's never, ever said he preferred one gender over the other, but her pregnancy hormones throw her all over the place lately and she can't help the stupid thought that he's pissed they're not having a boy as their first-born. She knows how ridiculous that sounds, but what else is she supposed to think of when he's acting like this?

When they get into their apartment, he pulls a chair back for her at the kitchen table and starts prepping dinner.

He's cutting the onions with a little too much vigor than necessary and maybe she shouldn't be coming near him when he's clearly angry and has a knife in hand, but whatever. She's not afraid of him and knows he'd _never_ hurt her, so she reaches around and yanks the knife away by the handle.

"Roy," she says lowly, setting the knife aside, "what's going on?"

He looks at her and there may or may not be tears in her eyes (which she'll blame on the onions if he asks, even if he knows better), so he places a hand at her waist and kisses her harder than she expected, mumbling, "Sorry," against her lips.

"Why are you acting like this?"

He pushes his fingers through his hair. "She's going to be like _you_, you know that, right? She'll be gorgeous and guys will… They'll be all over her. I'll go to prison trying to keep them away."

She rolls her eyes and he wipes the tear that falls down her cheek away with the pad of his thumb.

"I'd hope you'd know how to not get caught by the police." He chuckles. "And if she'll be just like me, she can look out for herself. You're overreacting."

She presses their lips together before he can protest, and she doubts he'll admit to being completely ridiculous (because he probably truly believes he's not), but then he's kissing her back and running his knuckles under her shirt and gently over her round tummy, so she figures that they can continue this conversation later.

... ...

_God_, if they weren't surrounded by all of their friends right now, she'd probably kill him.

She thinks she will.

They're at a birthday picnic for Wally and all of the kids are going to walk over to the park that's _literally_ only a few yards away, perfectly in everyone's line of sight. And it's summer in Central City, so the sun's beating down and it's hot, and Jade put Lian in her white and black polka-dot sundress because she knew it would be warm and because Wally and Artemis gave it to her for her fifth birthday.

Now Roy's arguing with Lian as their daughter's complaining how it's hot and she wants to take off her cardigan. And as if to prove her point, Lian's been fanning herself since they got there and Roy refused to let her take the thing off while they sat and ate, and now she's exhaling in frustration and her cheeks are flushed and she's a little sweaty.

"Roy," Jade groans. They try not to use tones with each other in front of Lian, but he's being completely ridiculous and she's not about to let their daughter pass out from heat stroke.

He gives her a look and she rolls her eyes and tugs Lian towards her, unbuttoning her cardigan and pulling it off. She presses the back of her hand to her cheeks, and they're definitely warm so she hands her a bottled water and tells her to drink it all while she's playing so she'll feel better.

"Alright," Lian says as she pecks her cheek. When she passes her dad, she rolls her eyes (guess where she learned _that_) but tugs his shirt, anyway, so she can kiss his cheek before leaving.

See? Their daughter is already more sensible than the both of them. Jade would've just brushed Roy aside after what he just pulled.

And Jade knows there's a glare on Roy's face as he watches Lian run up to where Damian is waiting for her so that they can walk to the park together. "Will you give them a break?" Jade asks, and Roy looks at her. "They're _five-year-olds_, Roy. Nothing's going to happen."

"He's a trouble-maker!"

They should _not_ be having this conversation with Bruce and Selina standing a few feet away.

"So is Lian," Jade points out, and no, she's not one of those parents who think their child is completely perfect and innocent. Perfect, definitely, but not innocent. Lian is sly and clever and totally charming enough to realize when she's doing stuff she's not supposed to and looks cute trying to get away with it. She's exactly like her mother and when you get past the disciplining, it's highly amusing.

Roy frowns. "It's probably _because_ of him."

She rolls her eyes and ignores him for at least an hour, during which she completely laughs at his ass when Bruce walks up to him while she's busy talking with Artemis. He totally deserves it.

... ...

"_Dad_," Lian groans, and sure, she's laughing a bit, but it's probably to hide her frustration, "We're just sparring!"

"He was _on top_ of you!"

"That's kind of the point!" she yells back, and when Roy opens his mouth, no doubt to comment on that, she adds, "He was pinning me down!"

Damian snickers beside her, and Jade can't suppress the laugh that comes out of her mouth when Lian shoots him a piercing glare (like father, like daughter) and Damian just holds his hands up in mocking surrender and still looks highly amused. God, that smirk is probably irritating Roy more than it is Lian.

"You saw them, right?" Roy asks her accusingly. "He was _on_ her."

"They're sparring, Babe," Jade tells him. "Honestly, I'd be less concerned about them doing something inappropriate and more concerned with the fact our daughter needs more training."

Damian bursts into laughter and Lian exclaims, "_Mom!_"

Jade chuckles and tugs Roy out of the living room, winking at Lian over his shoulder before they disappear from view. Once they get into the kitchen, Roy kind of shoves her back as he kisses her roughly. "I love it when you're pissed and overprotective," she laughs against his lips, and she doesn't miss the way he smirks and replies, "I know," before lifting her onto the counter.


End file.
